


I Wanna Feel The Heat With Somebody

by scrawny_raven



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Childhood Friends, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining, One Shot, Prom, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Songfic, Teenage Losers Club (IT), friends - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:33:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23907751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrawny_raven/pseuds/scrawny_raven
Summary: The Losers go to prom... Will Eddie find someone to dance with? Inspired by the Whitney Houston song, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody".
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 11
Kudos: 41





	I Wanna Feel The Heat With Somebody

**Clock strikes upon the hour**

Eddie groaned as he glanced at his digital watch reading 10:00 pm. Slumping further into the uncomfortable plastic chair that had been his sanctuary for the past two hours, he let his eyes pass over the crowd of hormonal teenagers bouncing to “Bust A Move”. His nervous energy was being taken out on a loose string on the inside of his trouser pockets. 

His mother would have a heart attack if she knew where he was tonight. She swore religiously against any school events in fear that someone would have AIDS or something and infect her innocent boy. Expecting a lecture about the importance of isolation, Eddie decided to avoid the whole ordeal and tell her he was spending the night at his friend’s house. Was it a lie? Not entirely. The plan after the dance was to get totally shitfaced at Richie’s house so he technically wasn’t in the wrong this time. 

Throughout his mother’s reign of terror over him, Richie’s house had become a sort of refuge for him. He would climb out of his own window and bike mindlessly for a few miles just to end up at his friend’s door, who was always awake in the early morning to let him in. It had become a sort of routine for the two, spending the waking hours alone together doing whatever the hell they wanted. Tonight was different though, Eddie was actually invited to spend the night. When he arrived, he was greeted with his friend’s usual toothy grin and tight hug.

It took a lot of convincing to persuade Eddie to come tonight and he really wished he didn’t love his friends enough to allow himself to get dragged to this teenage wasteland. 

_ A week ago, Ben bounded down the ladder of the clubhouse clutching the school newspaper in the palm of his hand.  _

_ “Cool your jets, Bennie! Let a boy rest in peace!” Richie complained, laying the crook of his elbow over his eyes, rocking the hammock he and Eddie were nestled into in the process. Eddie was surprised by the sudden movement but scooched closer into his friend’s side to keep from falling off. _

_ “Close the hatch, Ben, you’re letting all of the heat out” Bill complained wrapping his arms tighter around his chest. It was September of their junior year and infuriatingly chilly outside in the evenings. Stan’s space heaters were eating up batteries at an alarming rate so the Losers attempted to preserve as much heat as possible in their little hideout. Ben clumsily snapped the hatch closed and continued down the steps, eager to share his news. _

_ “They just announced the prom theme guys” Ben exclaimed in short breaths, “It’s the Twilight Zone and I was nominated to help design the set and the lighting and the decorations…” He rambled off, overworking himself as he always did over his endless amount of good ideas. _

_ “That’s great man!” Mike clapped his friend on the back and the rest of the Losers joined in on the praise, they all understood how much this meant to their friend. _

_ “Yeah, I might actually go to this one,” Bev teased pinching Ben’s already pink cheeks, “Just for you.” _

_ Ben was the most creative Loser and Eddie was genuinely happy for his friend but he also hated school dances. The idea of hundreds of smelly kids grinding and humping on each other made his head spin. His mother’s voice was already screeching in his head as he began thinking about the number of people stuffed into the small gymnasium. _

_ Richie sensed his sudden nervousness and shifted his arm to pull Eddie closer into his chest. They had outgrown their little hammock years ago, gangly legs squished together but neither of them minded. _

_ As the other Losers made their plans for the dance and the much-anticipated after-parties that they were prepared to get utterly trashed at, Richie whispered into his friend’s hair, “don’t worry, you can stick with me.” _

_ It was a simple gesture, but Eddie already felt a world safer in his arms. _

**The loneliness calls**

What a fucking liar though.

Not that Eddie wanted to spend every second of the night with his friend, but he did expect some sort of acknowledgment that they existed on the same plane. Richie wasn’t popular by any means, he was a Loser after all, but the people who didn’t hate him with a burning passion were actually excited to see him and dragged him into the crowd as soon as the gang arrived. Although brash and dorky, Richie knew how to have fun and people were naturally attracted to that. Sometimes, Eddie felt really grateful that Richie chose to hang out with his childhood friends instead of whoever wanted to party at the moment. 

This was not one of those times though. Eddie’s eyes were glazed over from glaring at his friend across the gymnasium. Richie had lost track of time with his hands on some girl’s ass swaying recklessly to the blaring beat of the music. Eddie understood that his friend had the right to dance with whoever he wanted, Richie was spontaneous and this fling wouldn’t mean anything when the lights turned on. Regardless, Eddie sunk a little further into his chair. Who was he trying to fool? Eddie knew the thought of Richie enjoying dancing with a stranger was driving him wild with envy. 

“You alright?”

Stan’s concerned face shocked Eddie out of his fixation. His curly hair was sweaty and hopelessly wild from running his hands through it while dancing. Eddie saw Bill out of the corner of his eyes standing on the wall, hair just as messy as Stan’s. He was nodding his head along to the music, face soft and admiring Stan from across the room. All of the Losers suspected there was something going on between the two but neither Bill nor Stan could confirm the rumors. Richie was the strongest supporter of that theory, loving both boys as brothers, he claimed he could see right through their diversions. Eddie made a mental note to tell him about this incident, assuming Richie wasn’t going to completely ignore him for the rest of the night.

“Eddie?”

“Yeah? Oh, yeah. I’m fine. I just- I think- I just need to get some air.” Eddie stuttered, getting up hastily. “You know how I get in crowds and things and people…”, making excuses for himself while trying his hardest not to worry his friend. One of Eddie’s shining personality traits was that he hated to be a burden, especially on a night he could tell was so special to his friends.

Stan grabbed his arm suddenly and waited until Eddie met his eyes, “Let me know if you need anything, okay?” 

Stan was truly an enigma. He put up a front of sarcasm and intimidation, but all of the Losers knew he was the biggest sweetheart. This was one of the moments where Eddie could rant for hours about how much he appreciated Stan’s friendship. Instead of letting his friend know how much he meant to him, he wiggled out of Stan’s grip and assured him once again that he was fine. Eddie politely smiled and dipped out the gym doors, knowing Stan’s eyes were glued to his back.

**I’ve been in love and lost my senses**

Eddie sighed to himself as he stepped out into the parking lot, why couldn’t he have a big fat crush on Stan? Beautiful, kind, quiet Stan instead of the idiot he was falling for.

Was he falling for Richie? 

No. That didn’t make any sense. Eddie was not falling for Richie because Richie was annoying and not funny and had coke bottle glasses that magnified his beautiful brown eyes. Sure, objectively Eddie could say that Richie was kind of hot when his hair was pushed back or he raised his arms so high a sliver of his skin would be exposed, but Eddie was not falling for Richie. Eddie was not falling for Richie because he had his hands up some girl’s shirt three minutes ago and is too caught up with hookups to ever be romantically interested in him.

He sat down defeated on the curb wrapped his arms around his middle. It was chilly in the evening, a disappointing contrast to the warm nights spent under the moonlight over summer. 

_ The sun was brutal in Derry in the summertime and each of the Losers gained new freckles from swimming in the quarry all day. They only had a few more weeks until the school year started again and they intended to spend every waking hour basking in the warm water. _

_ Once the sun began to set, Eddie climbed out of the water, ensuring there would be no possible chance of catching a cold when the water cooled. He splayed out on the banks and stared up at the pink painted sky listening to Ben’s heavy boombox hum some german pop song . He wished he could bottle that sight up forever, chest rising heavily from laughing for hours. _

_ Unfortunately, the short moment of bliss was interrupted with a sharp kick to the calf. He raised his head to see who had disturbed his moment. _

_ Richie stood above him, the sun behind his head lighting up his dark hair, creating a halo around his smug face. _

_ “What are you doing dickwad?” Eddie complained. “You’re blocking the view” _

_ “Oh Eds, I am the view” Richie replied, flexing his scrawny arms and wiggling his unruly eyebrows. Usually, this would elicit an eye roll from Eddie but he felt generous enough to let out a small giggle. _

_ Richie’s already sunburned face deepened in color and although Eddie could never know, it filled his heart to hear his friend’s laugh.  _

_ Eddie scooched over and patted the grass next to him. “Come look with me”. _

_ There they lay, two boys admiring the sky, shoulders barely touching, warmth radiating off of their skin. They spent the majority of their time together touching each other in some sort of platonic, playful way, but this was different . They felt closer now, fingers brushing each other while heartstrings were tied in a tight knot. _

_ He didn’t know it yet, but this was the moment Eddie fell in love with Richie Toizer. _

_ He turned his head, admiring every freckle on Richie’s cheeks, the scar above his eyebrow, his lips plump and partly open like he was breathing in the moment just as much as Eddie was.  _

_ His beauty could beat any sunset.  _

_ “Hey Richie” _

_ Richie didn’t say anything but turned his head to give Eddie his full attention. _

_ “You’re my best friend” _

_ Eddie didn’t expect those words to come out of his mouth but he meant it with every fiber of his body.  _

_ “I know” Richie grinned, turning his head back up to the sky, “why else would you put up with my bullshit all of the time”. _

_ Eddie felt a sucker punch to the gut when he saw that smile. Although Richie laughed and joked all of the time, he had a smile reserved only for the people he loved. He shared it with Eddie a lot more than any other person. _

**I need a man who will take a chance**

Eddie’s chest tightened when he remembered that day at the quarry. Where was that smile now? 

Eddie didn’t understand why he was so angry at his friend, Richie really hadn’t done anything inherently wrong. He wrapped his jacket tighter around his middle. He was wearing one of Richie’s old suits, it was brown and patchy but it was the only one that could somewhat fit his smaller frame. He was grateful for the extra fabric though, the breeze freezing the tips of his fingers. The suit still smells like Richie, cheap cologne and summertime, he breathed in the scent on the lapel. The jacket hung loosely around his shoulders and the pants were cuffed to accommodate Eddie’s lack in height. It was only a few years ago when Richie had a growth spurt, towering over his friend by a couple of inches, but he still teased Eddie every chance he had. 

Eddie clutched a rock nestled in between the curb and the street and chucked it as hard as he could at a lamppost standing in front of him. His pent up anger missed the pole terribly, nearly knocking out a student’s window.

“You trying out for the baseball team”

Eddie spun his head around, “Richie?”

His lanky friend walked over and took a seat on the curb next to him. Richie’s hair was curlier than ever, sweater than Stan’s and practically begged Eddie to run his hands through it. He looked away quickly, blushing furiously in response to his own thoughts.

“I’ve got to admit though, I don’t think you’ve got the muscles for it Eds” jabbing a finger into Eddie’s side.

“Ow asshole, ” Eddie had no mercy for Richie at this time. He was still angry at him although he couldn’t place the reason why. “And don’t call me Eds”.

“Damn kid, you’re cute when you’re feisty”

What a fucking tease. 

Eddie rolled his eyes and turned his head away, he knew if he even glanced at his friend’s face, he would lose it, getting swept up in Richie's kinetic energy. 

“The stars look so bright tonight”

There was a softness in Richie’s voice that was typically reserved for 3 AM whispers. The kind they would share when talking about the secrets of the universe or their deepest fears after a movie marathon.

_ Eddie softly rapped his knuckles on the wet window. His teeth were chattering from the cold and the memories of his mom screaming at him. He could hear rusting inside the bedroom as he knocked again. Within moments, the window clicked open and revealed his friend’s sad smile _

_ “Hey” Eddie whispered, hoping his voice wasn’t shaking from rage and fear. _

_ “Jesus, Eds,” Richie grunted as he helped his smaller friend into the room. It had been raining hard for the past two hours and Eddie was soaked to his bones. Richie closed the window and passed to the other side of the room to get his friend some fresh clothes.  _

_ Eddie kept to himself in the corner of the room, attempting to contain the puddle of rainwater to one spot, eyes glued to the floor. He always felt a little guilty when he woke Richie up in the middle of the night. _

_ “Thanks” Eddie mumbled when Richie handed him an old sweatshirt and a pair of boxers, “I’m gonna go to the bathroom”. _

_ “My parents are home right now, they’ll hear you. Just change in here” Richie replied nonchalantly, sitting on his bed and cleaning his glasses with his shirt. Eddie was surprised by the proposition but started to strip nevertheless, excited to get out of his soaking clothes. He slipped into the underwear that hung loosely off of his hips, forgetting his friend was sitting across the room. His face reddened as he met Richie’s eyes.  _

_ “You’re going to be the death of me Kaspbrak,” Richie muttered to himself. He stood up and grabbed his friend’s hand to lead them back to his bed. Eddie felt so fragile as he curled up in the blankets next to his best friend. He couldn’t get his mother’s voice out of his head and his calves burned from riding his bike for so long. _

_ “You know you worry me right,” Richie commented quietly as he placed his glasses on the nightstand, “No one as pretty as you should be this stupid. I mean who rides their bike in the rain? At night? If you fell… or worse kidnapped. Boy, I would kill you if you got kidnapped on the way to my house of all places.” _

_ “No one wants to kidnap a seventeen year old Richie.” Eddie groaned, placing his head in the crook of his friend’s shoulder, appreciative of his body warmth. _

_ “You don’t know. They might see your cute little ass and think ‘I’m a real sicko, I’m going to kidnap that teenager.’”  _

_ One of Richie’s arms wrapped themselves around Eddie’s middle while the other rubbed small circles into Eddie’s wet scalp. Eddie breathed the moment in, tears welling up in his eyes. Eddie could listen to Richie talk about anything for the rest of his life. Movies, comic books, anything. Richie’s voice was Eddie’s favorite sound in the world, any emotions caused by his tyrannical mother had dissolved.  _

_ Richie continued to talk about nonsense until he heard Eddie’s soft snores. He would never admit it but this was the moment Richie fell in love with Eddie Kaspbrak. _

He turned his head without a second thought to see at his friend's wonderstruck face, illuminated by the parking lot lights. He couldn’t stop thinking about that day at the quarry, the smile he gave. 

As if Richie was thinking the same thing, he laid down on the cold concrete placing his hands behind his head. 

Eddie was surprised at the gesture. Was this a sign? Eddie didn’t know what to do, fingers fidgeting with the loose strings in his pockets intensely. He did everything in his power to resist sneaking a look at his friend. His heart desperately ached to tell Richie everything, fear bubbling in his throat.

**On a love that burns hard enough to last**

“Why are you even out here anyway”, Eddie’s voice dripped with newfound envy, “ Were you bored of sticking your hands up girls’ shirts already or are you really that lonely?” Eddie clenched his hands into fists, regretting his outburst already. What happened to casual? What happened to best friends? He had dug a grave and buried that touching moment six feet under.

This must have ignited something within Richie because he bolted upright and shifted his glasses furiously. “What the hell Eds? I come out here to make sure that you’re safe and this is what I get in return? No wonder everyone thinks you have a stick up your ass.” 

They glared intensely at each other, neither one backing down.

“Well sorry for actually trying not to be a douchebag all the time, maybe you should try it out? That way, you could actually get a girl to actually like you instead of letting them play your heart all the goddamn time”. Eddie didn’t actually mean it, he knew how heartbroken Richie got whenever he was having girl problems. Eddie was always the only one Richie confided in with those kinds of problems, spending hours on his bed ranting about his failed romances. 

“Jesus Eds, you really don’t get it” Richie exhaled running his hands through his hair exasperated. Although Eddie was extremely pissed at him, he couldn't help finding Richie a little hot doing this.

“Oh, I think I’ve got it fine enough,” Eddie leaned in, making sure Richie knew he should be his one and only priority at that moment, “Your needy ass is so desperate that you’re willing to hook up with just about anyone. Sound about right?”

The next few moments happened so quickly, Eddie could have imagined it all.

Richie grabbed his face and so that their foreheads were leaning against each other, his eyelids were heavy and his long lashes tickled Eddie’s skin. His gaze was hyper-focused on Eddie’s lips just inches away.

“Eddie, you’re so fucking stupid”, he breathed.

Richie closed the distance between the two, twisting his face a bit to avoid their noses colliding. Eddie reached towards Richie’s chest to twist his hands into his shirt. Richie pulled away seconds later, staring into his friend’s eyes as if he had never seen them before.

Eddie, on the other hand, was having a much harder time processing the interaction. His stomach ached and his lips tingled. His brain was firing a thousand questions at once but he couldn’t grasp onto any of them.

“Um-” Eddie started but his tongue was limp in his mouth and his heart was thumping so loud in his ears, he really couldn’t say anything if he knew what he would say. Richie’s eyes were still on him, intense but earnest, magnified by his ridiculous glasses. Eddie noticed there was a freckle on his right eyelid he had never seen before.

There was a tangible tension between the two, Eddie’s hands still tangled in his friend’s shirt. Richie’s face had gone beet red and Eddie noticed this was the only time he had really seen his friend speechless. 

Did he make Richie speechless? Any other time he would rejoice at the moment and embrace the silence, but right now all Eddie wanted was for Richie to kiss him again.

“Tell me how stupid I am?” Eddie pleaded, cringing at the amount of apparent desperation in his own voice.

A goofy grin spread across Richie’s face as he leaned in again. Lips moving in unison as they collided. Richie matched Eddie’s desperation, pushing a little harder into Eddie, who shamelessly moaned in response. His hands combed through Eddie’s hair softly, wanting nothing more than to protect him in his arms like he did on that rainy night. 

Eddie’s fist clenched and unclenched in Richie’s shirt grasping for more of him. He couldn’t get enough. The only name in his head was Richie and it was shining as bright as the sun. How many nights had Eddie dreamed of this moment? Too many to count. Kissing Richie was like sparklers and fireworks and shooting stars all at once. 

“I love you,” Eddie breathed.

“What?” Richie asked flatly, pulling away.

Eddie chased his lips, pretending that he didn’t say what he just said. He pressed another brief kiss onto Richie’s lips and his cheek and his chin hoping to distract the boy from his previous statement.

“Did you just say that you loved me because it sounded like you said you loved me but not in a cutesy, platonic way like in a hot, meaningful way” Richie rambled and wrapped Eddie’s curls around his fingers.

Eddie rolled his eyes, “don’t make me regret it, dumbass”.

“No, I would never think of doing that. I’m just saying that hypothetically if you did say that, I would probably say that I love you too,” Richie glanced down teasingly.

“You would?”

“Hypothetically.”

Eddie let out a loud laugh and fell into Richie’s chest. His head bounced as Richie chuckled, he could hear his heart beating loud and fast. He had never felt this happy, his fingers tingling with overflowing adoration. 

“Yeah, well maybe I said that I’m in love with Richie Toizer” Eddie said meeting his best friend’s eyes, “Would you shut up and keep kissing me if I did?”

Richie smiled that damn smile, pulling Eddie in, and their worlds collided once again.

**I wanna dance with somebody**

“We’ve left the party for too long,” Richie breathed dreamily.

“We never have to go back in” Eddie leaned in again but felt his friend’s palm plant gently on his shoulders, preventing him from sneaking another kiss.

“Don’t you want to dance with me, baby?” 

Eddie wondered how many somersaults his heart could do before it exploded, it must have been a hundred already tonight. 

“You know I suck ass at dancing” Eddie retorted, hoping to brush off the question and never have to think about it again.

It wasn’t an exaggeration. he knew how to dance like MC Hammer but he was sure as hell not going to break that out in the middle of the gym. The gym. He totally forgot about the sweaty, stinky gym that was filled to the brim with their classmates. Eddie wasn’t embarrassed about the whole situation, but everyone would notice if he and Richie walked hand in hand into the gym and he wasn’t sure if he was ready to handle that kind of attention. 

“That doesn’t matter,” Richie said excitedly “I mean obviously I know you suck at all types of body coordination, except for just now of course, but that doesn’t matter to me. I just want to dance with you.”

Eddie counted a few more somersaults and calculated that his cause of death would, in fact, be Richie’s intoxicating smile. He knew he would do anything for his friend, that’s why he was in the situation in the first place.  So he stood up, relishing in the short-lived height advantage, and offered his hand to Richie. He took it with such enthusiasm Eddie thought his hand was going to fall off. 

Walking into the gym was like walking into the past, it was exactly like they left it before spilling their guts to each other. Eddie could see Stan and Bill dancing together in the middle of the floor, hands tangled in each others’ clothes. Richie must have been looking at the same scene because he smiled fondly at the pair. Mike, Ben, and Bev were sitting at a table with Bev’s flask already in hand. They were laughing hysterically and Eddie couldn’t help feeling excited about the after-party despite his prior feelings.

He felt Richie squeeze his hand as they continued towards the crowd. All of Eddie’s anxieties and dissipated when he looked up at his best friend’s face, illuminated by the colored lights that surrounded them. Best friend? Is that what they still were? There were a million questions that flooded his mind. Would Richie feel the same in the morning? Would he feel the same in the morning? What were they?

“They’re playing my song!” Richie yelled unexpectedly, pulling Eddie out of his thoughts and into reality again. 

“What the hell are you saying?” Eddie asked racking his brain for the name of the song that was blaring, but Richie was already pulling him along.

“Come on slowpoke, you said you wanted to dance!” Richie yelled like Eddie couldn’t hear him over the music even though he was perfectly capable of doing so. Eddie rolled his eyes for the millionth time and laughed wildly. They pushed their way past their classmates so they could be in the middle. Eddie would usually be totally uncomfortable but Richie’s hands were already all over him. 

Richie couldn’t dance for shit, but that didn’t stop him in the slightest. He busted out every popular and unpopular move in the book while Eddie cheered him on eagerly. They were bouncing recklessly when the chorus kicked in. 

“OH, I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY” They both screamed at the top of their lungs, at the annoyance of many of their classmates. They took turns singing the lyrics, all tragically off tune but never wrong. 

When the song ended their bodies were on fire, love spreading from their stomachs to the tips of their fingers. Eddie pulled Richie down and kissed him so hard they both saw stars.

**With somebody who loves me.**

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I love these boys so much and thought this song was would be adorable for them to bounce around to. Let me know what you thought of this story because I had so much fun writing it!


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